The aim of this paper is to analyse reasons for the banning of the selected novels by three Irish 20th century authors: John McGahern’s The Dark and its portrayal of awakening sexuality, sexual abuse as well as profanity; Brian Moore’s The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne and its criticism of the Catholic Church; and Kate O’Brien’s Mary Lavelle and its portrayal of female sexuality and homosexuality. The paper tries to demonstrate that each novel was banned for containing subject matter deemed not appropriate by either the church or Irish society. Furthermore, the paper shows how the authors used their novels to criticize Irish society and how numerous constraints affected Irish people.